It Will be Me
by Existence's Bane
Summary: Hiro is there for Shuichi. Songfic to Melissa Etheridge's "It Will be Me". Very slight angst if you support this pairing. Oneshot. Request by a fellow writer on another site, name JakobyBlack746.


_Here is the HiroShu songfic I was talking about_._ I heard the song on the radio, and I thought it sweet_.

_Disclaimer_:_ I own nothing_.

_Song_: It Will be Me_ by Melissa Etheridge—I did cut some lyrics, though_

_Pairing_:_ Onesided HiroxShiuchi_

_Warning_: _Some angst, if you decide to take it that way, but I happen to think it's sweet_.

_**It Will be Me**_

_**By Cory**_

_If you hear a voice in the middle of the night  
Saying it'll be alright  
It will be me_

Such pain could surely not be on this earth. Through a dim haze of half-consciousness, he resolved that surely death was easier to bear with than this agony and humiliation. He dared not open his eyes; even the dim light was far too unkind on his swollen eyes.

He decided that he hadn't died in the night. Wasn't death supposed to bring peace.

A damp, cool cloth was pressed soothingly against a burning scrape on his forehead, wiping away congealing blood and preventing it from seeping further into his hair. He wanted to press against it more, certain that this was peace-bringing, not the harbinger Taki.

Roughened, yet gentle fingertips lightly grazed across one cheek, so gently that the tender bruise hardly tingled. "It's going to be alright, now," a familiar voice promised, just as a strand of long hair brushed over his collarbone.

_

* * *

_

If you feel a hand guiding you along  
When the path seems wrong  
It will be me

"Gah!" Shuichi gasped as a patch of cement sidewalk rushed up to his face, his stomach clenching into a tightly-compressed walnut of surprise.

"Gotcha," Hiro grunted as his arm swept out to grasp his around his waist. The world froze, and Shuichi relaxed. He shakily pulled out from Hiro's arm, which seemed oddly reluctant to relinquish him.

"Thanks," Shuichi muttered, straightening his jacket and looking back at the stars hovering over their park.

"You know," Hiro drawled as he slyly glanced over at his best friend, "I don't see why you have to fall every time we come here." He instinctively tugged his hat farther over his eyes as several people passed, hiding his face; it wouldn't do to have his already limited time with the man he loved interrupted by possible fans.

Shuichi snorted, glancing over at him. "As if I can help it! It's not like I want _you_ to catch me. Ah, if it was only Yuki…" the vocalist sighed dreamily.

And all Hiro could do was feign a smile.

_

* * *

_

If there is a key that goes to your heart  
A special part  
It will be me

Hiro gritted his teeth as Shuichi sobbed on his shoulder, his nails digging through his shirt with an animalistic need for consolation that Shuichi knew he could always get from his friend.

Hiro wrapped one arm around Shuichi's waist while subtly nuzzling the top if Shuichi's head. _I can't get you, Shuichi, but he sure as hell doesn't deserve you_.

* * *

_If you need a friend  
Call out to the wind  
To hold you again  
It will be me_

Hiro decided to take Shuichi to a movie, just like old times when they had used to sneak out to see R-rated films and flirt with the bubble gum-smacking cashiers. Of course, them being only friends, he was not going on the terms he would have liked best, but as long as he was with Shuichi, he decided that it was alright.

It was an animated flick with a turtle and a puppy who were attempting to find their best friend, a fox kit. The film was the most childish, most hopeful, and most heartbreakingly sincere thing Shuichi had ever seen in his life.

Afterwards, Shuichi cried in swallowing, gasping sobs, completely helpless. He shrank back into the squeaky seat, drawing his knees up to his chest and crying into them. He felt two warm arms encircle him, and he softly leaned into Hiro's chest, this bringing on a whole new round of tears.

"Was it the popcorn?" Hiro wondered aloud, concerned. He lightly stroked Shuichi's hair, flopping some strands sweetly between his fingers.

_

* * *

_

Oh how the world seems so unfair  
Creating a love that can not be shared  
As you go your way and I go mine  
A light will shine  
And it will be me

Yuki knew.

It was obvious, he had claimed; the pained glances, the sudden defensiveness when it came to their relationship.

After the music awards, Yuki was followed by a babbling and oblivious Shuichi, who insisted on repeating every aspect of the show and waving his gleaming, golden award around carelessly.

Hiro watched silently, then rode his motorcycle home at aggressive speeds.

_

* * *

_

Past the ever after there's a place for two  
In your tears of laughter  
I'll be there for you

Hiro knew Shuichi was no angel.

He was careless, naïve, self-absorbed, procrastinating and a total and complete idiot.

But the guitarist knew something about the childish smile that was a fake I-know-you-want-me smile for their camera shoots made him weak and his insides stutter.

And he couldn't help but smile. His greatest weakness, by his side for all the world to see. Hidden in plain sight.

_

* * *

_

There is no mountain that I cannot climb  
For you I'd swim through the rivers of time  
As you go your way and I go mine  
A light will shine  
And it will be me

Hiro wanted to be there for Shuichi. And he was. However, it was not in the way he would have wanted it to be.

He moaned dully, pressing his forehead against the table. God, what the hell was wrong with him? He would do anything for him, yet he could do _nothing_.

Perhaps it was better this way. Perhaps this would wear off. It would be the least painful plan of action. Surely this wasn't for _forever_, right?

Besides, Shuichi was getting what he wanted, apparently: a cold-hearted bastard who, in Hiro's opinion, couldn't care less whether his lover had a best friend that was enamored with him or not.

"Hello-o?" Shuichi called in a sing-song voice from the other side of the table. Hiro jolted from his thoughts, jerking his hand and spilled his orange soda over his shirt.

Shuichi pointed and laughed at him as Hiro glared and seethed, fluttering his hands helplessly over his lunch tray for a napkin. Shuichi just smiled and grabbed a napkin from his own tray and dabbed at the stain over his chest.

Hiro winced. Only Shuichi, with his raw idiocy, would do something like that without worrying about the consequences. He was suddenly grateful that his long hair hid any blush that such an action might have conceived. He lightly fiddled with the stem in his hand under the table, and sighed. _Better this than nothing_.

When Shuichi pulled back and glanced at his tray, there was a single white daisy tucked next to the remaining napkins.


End file.
